AusLeisure

The gates have opened at Melbourne Park for the Australian Open, with hundreds of thousands of visitors set to watch the first Grans Slam tournament of 2023.

Victorian Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Steve Dimopoulos this morning joined Tennis Australia Chief Executive Craig Tiley and former Australian Open champion Evonne Goolagong Cawley at Melbourne Park this morning to mark the beginning of the event.

Tennis fans have already enjoyed extra activities during the qualifying week from since 9th January, with crowds able to watch and partake in the Tennis Players for Peace charity match, the annual and much-loved Kids Tennis Day, and Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios playing an exhibition match at Rod Laver Arena.

Forward bookings data shows strong demand for hotels in Melbourne over the next fortnight, with bookings for Saturday 21st January already at 76% capacity, which will only increase in the coming week.

The Australian Open marks the start of Victoria’s packed calendar of international sporting events including the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, Super Rugby’s Super Round Melbourne, Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix, Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, Bledisloe Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.

Last year alone, the Victorian Government delivered a record year of major events with 6.9 million attendees to sporting, music, arts and cultural events right across the state.

Advising of the value of major events to Melbourne, Minister Dimopoulos stated “the Australian Open is on again and Melbourne is in the global spotlight as the world watches the best players battle it out right here.”

Lower image shows Ash Barty on court during Saturday's Kids Tennis Day.

Related Articles

15th January 2023 - Tennis Australia reveals data rights partnership with Stats Perform

6th January 2023 - Tennis Australia defends decision to allow Russian and Belarusian players to compete at 2023 Australian Open

4th January 2023 - Australian Open welcomes back Kids Tennis Day returns

29th December 2022 - Australian Open set to deliver three-week tennis extravaganza

19th November 2022 - Australian Open to support technology startups

16th November 2022 - Reversal of visa ban means Novak Djokovic can play at 2023 Australian Open

8th August 2022 - Pandemic affected Australian Open events generated significant economic benefit and record broadcast numbers

2nd February 2022 - Australian Open 2022 scores with sponsorship and broadcast success

30th January 2022 - Tennis Australia offers 10,000 hours of free court hire to celebrate Australian Open success

27th January 2022 - Australian Open’s spectator limit increased to 65% for remainder of tournament

25th January 2022 - Australian Open reverses its ban on activists’ Peng Shuai t-shirts

13th January 2022 - Victorian Government updates COVIDSafe event plan for Australian Open

11th January 2022 - Australian Open enters into metaverse with NFT art collection tied to live match data

23rd December 2021 - Small number of Australian Open players and staff to receive COVID-19 medical exemptions

20th November 2021 - Vaccinated crowds to return for 2022 Australian Open but unvaccinated players will be barred

10th June 2021 - Safety measures introduced by Ticketmaster and Australian Open ensured a successful event

9th March 2018 - Live Performance Australia opposes proposed amendments to Victorian Major Events legislation

---

Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.